# Sitemap URL Extractor (`datalantern/sitemap-extractor`) Actor

Extract every URL from any website's XML sitemaps, including sitemap indexes, gzip sitemaps, and robots.txt discovery. Returns lastmod, changefreq, and priority.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/datalantern/sitemap-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Data Lantern](https://apify.com/datalantern) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Sitemap URL Extractor

**Sitemap URL Extractor** gets every page URL listed in a website's XML sitemaps. Enter a domain and it finds the sitemaps for you through robots.txt and the usual locations, follows sitemap indexes, and reads gzip-compressed sitemaps.

### What can this tool do?

- Discover sitemaps automatically from `robots.txt`, `/sitemap.xml`, `/sitemap_index.xml`, and `/wp-sitemap.xml`.
- Follow nested sitemap indexes of any depth.
- Read `.xml`, `.xml.gz`, and plain-text sitemaps.
- Return `lastmod`, `changefreq`, and `priority` for each URL.
- Filter URLs with include and exclude patterns, such as only `/blog/` pages.
- Process many websites in one run.

### What data does it return?

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `url` | https://example.com/blog/post-1 |
| `lastmod` | 2026-09-01 |
| `changefreq` | weekly |
| `priority` | 0.8 |
| `sitemap` | https://example.com/post-sitemap.xml |
| `website` | https://example.com/ |

### How to use it

1. Enter one or more websites or sitemap URLs.
2. Optionally set a URL limit and include or exclude patterns.
3. Click **Start**, then download the results as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or read them through the API.

### Common uses

- Build a full page list for an SEO audit or a site migration.
- Feed a website's pages into a crawler or an AI knowledge base.
- Track newly published pages by comparing `lastmod` between runs.

### Pricing

Pay per URL: **$0.50 per 1,000 URLs**. You only pay for URLs you receive. Set a maximum cost per run in the run options.

### Use it through the API, AI agents, and integrations

Call it from your code with the Apify API, schedule it, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n, or an AI agent through Apify's MCP server.

### Is it legal?

Sitemaps are files that websites publish so that others can find their pages. This tool reads only those public files. It does not log in, bypass access controls, or collect personal information.

### FAQ

**The run returned no URLs.** The website may not publish a sitemap. The run log lists the locations that were checked.

**Can I get the page content too?** This tool returns URLs only. Pass them to a crawler, such as Website Content Crawler, to get page text.

### Feedback

Found a bug or need a field added? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab. We usually respond within 24 hours.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Enter a website (e.g. https://example.com) and the tool finds its sitemaps through robots.txt and common locations. You can also enter a sitemap URL directly (.xml or .xml.gz).

## `maxUrls` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many URLs in total. 0 means no limit.

## `includePattern` (type: `string`):

Optional. Example: /blog/

## `excludePattern` (type: `string`):

Optional. Example: /tag/|/author/

## `maxSitemaps` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit for very large sitemap indexes.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Usually not needed. Turn on if a website blocks requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    }
  ],
  "maxUrls": 200,
  "maxSitemaps": 500,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://apify.com"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("datalantern/sitemap-extractor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://apify.com" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("datalantern/sitemap-extractor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call datalantern/sitemap-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,datalantern/sitemap-extractor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/wSZFnbHxYrH8FCmCH/builds/ehYuUylc6lhXHNfwy/openapi.json